Best marathon: 2:23:57 (2007, St. George). Won the Top of Utah Marathon twice (2003,2004). Won the USATF LDR circuit in Utah in 2006.

Draper Days 5 K 15:37 (2004)

Did not know this until June 2012, but it turned out that I've been running with spina bifida occulta in L-4 vertebra my entire life, which explains the odd looking form, struggles with the top end speed, and the poor running economy (cannot break 16:00 in 5 K without pushing the VO2 max past 75).

Short-Term Running Goals:

Qualify for the US Olympic Trials. With the standard of 2:19 on courses with the elevation drop not exceeding 450 feet this is impossible unless I find an uncanny way to compensate for the L-4 defect with my muscles. But I believe in miracles.

Long-Term Running Goals:

2:08 in the marathon. Become a world-class marathoner. This is impossible unless I find a way to fill the hole in L-4 and make it act healthy either by growing the bone or by inserting something artificial that is as good as the bone without breaking anything important around it. Science does not know how to do that yet, so it will take a miracle. But I believe in miracles.

Personal:

I was born in 1973. Grew up in Moscow, Russia. Started running in 1984 and so far have never missed more than 3 consecutive days. Joined the LDS Church in 1992, and came to Provo, Utah in 1993 to attend BYU. Served an LDS mission from 1994-96 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Got married soon after I got back. My wife Sarah and I are parents of nine children: Benjamin, Jenny, Julia, Joseph, Jacob, William, Stephen, Matthew, Mary, and Bella. We home school our children.

I am a software engineer/computer programmer/hacker whatever you want to call it, and I am currently working for RedX. Aside from the Fast Running Blog, I have another project to create a device that is a good friend for a fast runner. I called it Fast Running Friend.

Favorite Quote:

...if we are to have faith like Enoch and Elijah we must believe what they believed, know what they knew, and live as they lived.

Top of Utah Marathon, 2:40:28, 2nd overall, $1000 - first master, but they did not double-dip. Weaker competition than normal today. Splits below, full report later...

Full report. This was my 17th time running Top of Utah out of the 17 times they've had it. Stayed with Steve Anderson. At the start met an older runner from South Carolina named Jon Johnson if I remember right. Showed him the city of Oz (nice hidden bathroom at the start) - he was impressed.

For some reason the competition this year was not as strong as in the past years. Even Riley originally came to do a tempo run for 20 miles, but when he saw that running the remaining 6 was worth $1500 he decided to go for it.

I placed bottles with EmergenC and dextrose at 7, 13, 17, and 21. The bottle at 21 ended up having $250 value - kept me from losing the second place.

Mile-by-mile details to follow.

Overall take from the race - I need to start doing my staple 10 mile tempos at the end of 20 to deal with the fuel problem. I suppose I learned today the difference between jogging 20 miles maybe with a short tempo at the start vs running 20 miles with a long tempo at the finish.

On the positive side I was stronger on the hills, and felt much better than I ever have after finishing a marathon since I became a master. Afterwards on my way to Jamba Juice I got stuck in traffic, so I just parked and ran. I felt that the heart was a little bit tired, but I did not feel that deadly heart fatigue or sore legs. I am very excited about this improvement. Now I just need to do something to covert it into a better marathon performance.

This mile was naturally a bit slower, I think, so more effort to run the same pace. Decided I've had enough of red zone running, and it is time to drop back and run my own pace. Riley and Bryce went ahead.

Uphill mile. Decent result. Unfortunately my bottle was empty by now. I consumed 700 ml of my magic drink over the course of 4 miles. I tried to grab Powerade at the aid station, but missed. Hopefully the dextrose I consumed can get me to the finish.

Great race Sasha and a stellar year of running. I told Bob H to get his website updated since you have now broken the Masters TOU record twice.

From Ben VanBeekum on Mon, Sep 21, 2015 at 16:02:41 from 159.212.71.77

Sasha- That is a great run! What do you think you would differently in training to get the half splits more even! Also congrats on the Masters course record.

Jon- I dont think the competition is dropping. Though it has been a crazy year of no one racing. It is a qualifying year and everyone is seeming to put all there eggs in the basket in STG. I'm thinking 2:25 in STG might not even be quick enough for a top 10 finish

I get my dextrose from Amazon, HomeBrew vendor, $25 for 10 lb bag with shipping (Prime). It was funny - they thought I was making beer so they sent me a bunch of ads for beer making equipment and supplies.

Ben:

I could improve the split some by doing more 10 mile tempos, however, 3 minute positive split (which makes it even in St. George and about 6-7 positive in TOU) is my optimum breakdown. E.g when I ran 2:27:46 in 2003 my first half was 1:10:31.

The reason, I believe is at least in part in the spinal defect that alters my biomechanics, wears out certain muscle groups too quickly, and makes me race against the clock in a way - for me the race breaks down into the first 15 miles with the better form, and 11 or so with the worse form. You can think of it as running the first half on asphalt, and second through the swamp. No matter how fresh you are, when you hit the swamp you will not be going very fast.

So what I have to do is bank some time in the first 15 while I can, then quickly shift gears and budget my energy for survival. If I try to hold back, it is not worth it - I would have to lose 3 minutes over the first half to gain maybe only 1 over the second.

If I find a way to stay young enough for long enough, they might invent a nanorobot or some other magic that repairs vertebra, then I might see an even split marathon that produces a PR. Right now this sounds like science fiction, but I consider this within the realm of possibility - on my end I can fight the battle of staying young enough.

I do not know why everybody would be going to St. George in a qualifying year. Last I checked, which was just now (one more time to be sure) you could not have more than 450 feet of elevation drop to get an OTQ. Did I miss something?

In any case, I suppose I cannot complain about a less competitive situation in TOU this year since I got $1000 out of it.

Congrats on a very fine race Sasha! 17 of 17 is very cool. Though its a great race, the only time I ever ran it was back in '04 (hot day if I recall); a year you won it handily. Steve Ashbaker, Steve Anderson, Paul P, and Walter were also there that day.